Williams ton in vain as Sri Lanka go 1-0 up

Sean Williams enlisted his fifth ODI ton however the thump went to no end as Sri Lanka enrolled a five-wicket win in Pallekele on Sunday (January 16) to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Williams' 87-ball 100 and Regis Chakabva's 72 off 81 fueled Zimbabwe to 296/9 after they picked to bat. Sri Lanka's aggregate batting exertion, drove by Pathum Nissanka's 75 off 71 and a 129-run fourth-wicket stand including Dinesh Chandimal (75 off 91) and Charith Asalanka (71 off 68) assisted Sri Lanka over the line with eight conveyances to save. Kusal Mendis and Nissanka hit the lashes immediately in the pursuit, with the previous hitting six fours in the initial seven overs. Yet, the stand finished on 40 as Kusal Mendis was gotten behind off Blessing Muzarabani while playing the cut. Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis were then engaged with a valuable association of 41 yet Richard Ngarava packed away the wicket of the No. 3, whose endeavor to play the touch brought about an inside edge on to the stumps. Nissanka kept Sri Lanka on target, raising his fifty off 48 balls, and was upheld well by Dinesh Chandimal as they raised the initial fifty or more remain of the innings. Zimbabwe additionally lost an audit in the 21st over when Chandimal was rapped on the cushions by an arm ball from Williams, with replays supporting the onfield choice of not out as the ball was missing leg stump. Be that as it may, a brief time later Zimbabwe had accomplishment with the survey and got the wicket of Nissanka, who went for a remove Sikandar Raza however wound up edging it to Chakabva behind the stumps. Sri Lanka actually stayed up to date with the necessary rate on account of Chandimal and Asalanka, who played out a couple of calm overs prior to getting pace. Muzarabani and Wesley Madhevere failed on the more limited side and wound up spilling limits while Asalanka additionally utilized the DRS to turn around a LBW choice off Ngarava's bowling. Sri Lanka did without a limit for near six overs with the asking rate crossing 6.5 when the 40th over was finished. During this time, Chandimal got to his 24th ODI fifty and finished the limit dry season with a slap over point off Tendai Chatara to carry the condition to 66 off the last 10 overs. He likewise descended the track to Williams to hit his initial six while Asalanka struck a four off Muzarabani in the 43rd over off a top edge in transit to a 57-ball 50. Ngarava bowled a blast of short conveyances and at last got Chandimal to pull one directly to midwicket. Asalanka took Sri Lanka closer prior to turning into the fifth to withdraw as Ngarava packed away his third. However, the wicket did practically nothing to adjust the bearing of the pursuit as Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne owned the hosts in the penultimate over. Prior, Chakabva was put somewhere around Asalanka at first sneak off Nuwan Pradeep when he had scored just 2 and he made Sri Lanka pay for the miss as he put on a 80-run opening stand with Takudzwanashe Kaitano. Playing his first ODI, the 28-year-old Kaitano was the attacker in the association while Chakabva took as much time as is needed to get rolling. The stand, notwithstanding, reached a conclusion in the fifteenth over as Kaitano, who was put somewhere near Pathum Nissanka at cover, couldn't profit by the respite as he neglected to peruse a googly from Jeffrey Vandersay and was caught in front. Chakabva, in the mean time, began finding the fence routinely and got to his fourth ODI fifty, off 49 balls. Kamindu Mendis finished Craig Ervine's visit by as the Zimbabwe commander got an inside edge on to the stumps however the guests gained consistent headway as Chakabva and Williams put on 50 years stand. Williams scored at a strike pace of north of 100 in the third wicket relationship while Chakabva was energetic also, setting the stage for the side to wrap up with a decent aggregate. Chakabva's innings reached a conclusion when attempted to clear a Vandersay conveyance yet wound up gloving the ball to the 'guardian, with Sri Lanka taking the DRS course for the choice to go in support of themselves. Williams didn't permit Sri Lanka to acquire force with the wicket as he got support from Sikandar Raza in a 46-run organization to drive Zimbabwe forward. A twofold wicket over from Nuwan Pradeep and Wellington Masakadza's run out passed on Williams to do the greater part of the work in the demise overs, and the accomplished left-hander was capable as he targetted debutant Chamika Karunaratne who wound up surrendering 16 in the 48th over. The 49th over, which was bowled by Pradeep, yielded just four runs as Williams raised his fifth ODI ton. However, he was dumbfounded in the last by Karunaratne, who likewise got the wicket of Blessing Muzarabani. Richard Ngarava polished off with a six and a four as Zimbabwe completed near the 300 imprint, which demonstrated deficient eventually. Brief scores: Zimbabwe 296/9 in 50 overs (Sean Williams 100, Regis Chakabva 72, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 42; Chamika Karunaratne 3-69) lost to Sri Lanka 299/5 in 48.4 overs (Pathum Nissanka 5, Dinesh Chandimal 75, Charith Asalanka 71; Richard Ngarava 3-56) by 5 wickets.